Cambridge Consultants, is working with Singapore-based Clearbridge BioMedicson a new low cost, non-invasive system to improve cancer testing and diagnostics. The ClearCell System finds circulating tumor cells that have attached to a cancerous tumor. This got buried in my mailbox so I’m getting it out today. I have written about several of the devices before that have been created by Cambridge and this time they are working with a company from Singapore. Here’s a couple examples and they have also worked with Qualcomm. The first device they created that got my attention was the blue tooth inhaler, something maybe that is still to come of age.

The device is called the ClearCell system and even at low concentration levels it is able to find stray cells in the bloodstream that have detached from the tumor. BD

Press Release:

Cambridge, UK and MA – September 25, 2012 –Innovative technology design and development firm Cambridge Consultants is working with Singapore-based Clearbridge BioMedicson a groundbreaking device to improve cancer testing and research. The innovative second-generation ClearCellTM System enables tumor cells to be retrieved and detected even faster, and potentially more accurately, from a simple blood sample – paving the way for a new generation of personalized cancer treatments and increasing the chance of saving lives*.

There were an estimated 12.7 million new cancer cases diagnosed around the world in 2008 – the latest year for which figures are available – and 7.6 million deaths. The number of cases is expected to increase to 21 million by 2030. The spread of the disease around the body is the major cause of death from cancer*. But the traditional diagnosis method of a tumor biopsy often involves invasive surgery and cannot easily detect whether the disease has spread.

Clearbridge BioMedics’s proprietary second-generation ClearCellTM System is a new low-cost non-invasive ‘liquid biopsy’ that is drawing on the diagnostic device expertise of Cambridge Consultants – particularly in the fields of microfluidics and automation control – to give early warning of the spread of the disease. It detects circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the bloodstream that have detached from a patient’s primary tumor – even at concentrations of as low as one in a billion blood cells.

Early detection of these CTCs can increase patients’ chances of survival – and tracking the cell count over time could help ensure treatment is more effective. The new testing device has also solved the technical challenge of retrieving the cells intact – offering detailed insight into the exact nature of the cancer and its unique characteristics, and so paving the way for a new generation of personalized cancer treatments to fit the needs of each patient’s unique tumor biology.

“It is a tribute to our world-leading track record in diagnostic device development that we have been approached from Singapore to help with this development work,” said Duncan Bishop, program director in the Medical Technology division of Cambridge Consultants. “We can also offer a complete end-to-end solution, including blood handling, rapid prototyping and manufacturing trial devices, which is invaluable to start-up companies.”

Clearbridge BioMedics is a spin-off from the National University of Singapore and the first member of the Clearbridge Accelerator technology incubator, which is supported by the Singapore government’s National Research Foundation and SPRING Singapore. Clearbridge BioMedics specializes in novel applications for cancer research and diagnostics, and has customers spanning Asia, Europe and North America.

Johnson Chen, managing partner of Clearbridge Accelerator, said: “The ClearCellTM System from Clearbridge BioMedics is designed to resolve the current limitations of today’s technologies for detecting and isolating circulating tumor cells. It potentially represents the next generation of cancer screening, diagnosis, personalized medicine and treatment monitoring. The world-class diagnostic device expertise of Cambridge Consultants made it the clear winner when it came to selecting a development partner.”

* World Health Organization fact sheet no 297, February 2012

Cambridge Consultants develops breakthrough products, creates and licenses intellectual property, and provides business consultancy in technology critical issues for clients worldwide. For 50 years, the company has been helping its clients turn business opportunities into commercial successes, whether they are launching first-to-market products, entering new markets or expanding existing markets through the introduction of new technologies. With a team of more than 360 staff, including scientists, mathematicians, engineers and designers, in offices in Cambridge (UK) and Boston (USA), Cambridge Consultants offers solutions across a diverse range of industries including medical technology, industrial and consumer products, transport, energy, cleantech and wireless communications. For more information visit: www.CambridgeConsultants.com

Cambridge Consultants is part of Altran, a global leader in innovation and high-tech engineering consulting which supports companies in the creation and development of their new products and services. With a global network of 17,000 collaborators (including 15,000 consultants) throughout more than 20 countries, and 500 major clients, the Group reported sales of €1,420m in 2011. For more information visit: www.altran.com

Clearbridge BioMedics specializes in novel platforms with applications in oncology research and diagnostics. It is a National University of Singapore spin-off company that is committed to developing medical devices which will impact the world and revolutionize cancer diagnostics and patient care by leveraging groundbreaking technology from research partners. The ClearCell™ System comprises patent-pending CTChips®, which are microfluidic biochips able to effectively detect, isolate and retrieve wholly-intact circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from small quantities of patient blood samples. The isolated CTCs can then be stained directly on the CTChips® for identification and enumeration, or retrieved for further molecular analysis. Headquartered in Singapore, Clearbridge BioMedics currently has customers spanning Asia, Europe and North America. For more information visit www.clearbridgebiomedics.com

Dark Arts of Mathemical Deception

Professor Charlie Siefe of NYU, a mathematician debunks clinical trials, and few other items to where data is spun and fools you, every day example, hear about the perfect butt algorithm and more. These are probably some things you have never thought about but again after listening to what he has to say, it’s time to think about being skeptical. Here’s a radio show that also talks about the same topics.

This video digs in a bit further with how fictitious business models are used by banks and companies do this too. The models are so complex that CEOs don’t even understand them. “Quants, The Alchemists of Wall Street will take you through how “math models” work at banks and financial institutions in a way that even the layman can understand. More videos like over at theAlgo Duping/Killer Algorithm Page. Bank of America will also tell you“IT’ is a business” how they make money.

Weapons of Math Destruction

This is a lecture where Kathy O’Neill, a former Quant who worked for a Hedge Fund (Weapons of Math Destruction) on Wall Street will tell you what is done with your retirement money and more. The banks and companies use technology to take advantage because they can. “Of course we are going to take advantage because our tools are our brains…if they could figure out a way to take advantage of pension funds they would, a good interview with explaining smart money and dumb money.

Algorithms Shape The World

This is a very good presentation done a TED Conference and really was the one that got everyone started thinking about algorithms and today it’s talked about a lot. As he says “if you’re an algorithm, life is looking pretty good, but can’t say the same for humans”. What is a black box? Nobody has any control over the flash crash. We have moved forward a bit but still we are writing the unreadable and lost the sense of some of what is happening. Nice plug for Nanex here with research.